Strays
by Crimsonpawwz
Summary: Naruto took in strays. It didn't much matter what kind to him, as long as he had room he took them. And he always had room for one more. AU, Naruhina.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own the Naru-verse. I never did. You know this.

Posted un-beta'd, because it's late and I'm sleepy. I survive by consuming reveiws. >>...-cp

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Naruto took in strays. It didn't much matter what kind to him, as long as he had room he took them. And he always had room for one more. It had started, he suposed, when someone had taken him in, he had been a stray once too, after all. The man was one (last name) Iruka, an agent who, even though he was nearly as down on his luck as Naruto, still managed to scrounge up the change to buy cheese-burgers for the two of them.

Naruto had been little more than a scraggly pup then, half wild on his own, with almost nothing but a skate board, the clothes on his back, and his dreams. Naruto had wanted to be a writer, but sadly he lacked the talent. What he got, however, was acting. Iruka had looked him over as he devoured his burgers, and then with permision Iruka's as well. The boy was cute, under that layer of grime, and he deffinetly had charisma, he had talked him out of a pair of purfectly good cheese burgers, after all. But did he have what it takes? Only one way to find out.

"You ever think about acting?" Iruka said as Naruto was shoving the lasts of the food into his mouth. Naruto blinked big blue eyes up at him and humm?ed while wiping crumbs of his cheeks. Iruka's stomach dropped._ 'Damn the boy's adorable'_, Iruka thought, _'too bad he's half my age. Oh yeah, and I'm not single_.' Iruka sighed and repeated the question, Naruto smiled a big, cheezy grin, a sight to melt the heart of any girl who ever liked the nice guy, and said simply "Nope!"

With a wave and a thanks for the burgers Naruto was on his way. "Wait!" Iruka cried as he ran after the boy speeding down the hill. Naruto turned to see what was going on and lost his balance. Iruka felt as if time had stopped as he watched the board fly out from under the Naruto's feet and the wide eyed boy tumbled head over heels the rest of the way down the steep hill.

Iruka would never forget the wide blue eyes that burned into his as he reached the boy's side, or how warm the pavement was under his kness when he colapsed. What he would embelish, however was the amount of blood coming from the wound where part of Naruto's fore arm and breached the surface, for, though it was surprisingly little, Iruka would claim to be covered in the boy's blood before the incident was over.

Surprisingly Naruto had risen on his own, covered his broken arm with one hand, spun in a circle a couple of times, and revealed a whole apendage to his founder with a wink, a cheezy grin and a "ta-daa!" Iruka could not have been more shocked if he had sprouted another limb and done the macharena. The boy started off before Iruka came to his senses. Shaking it off he ran after the boy, crying "Wait!" yet again.Panting he caught up to him. Naruto blinked at him. "He..." Iruka gasped "Here." He held out a buisness card with the address of his apartment on it, which also doubled as his office until buissness picked back up. "I know," he paused for breath, "I know you're not interested in acting, but if you come by," another pause, "If you come by I can promise you a good meal and a shower. Maybe even a job." Naruto looked at the rectangle of white in his hand, then at Iruka, then back at the card. "Yea..." he started uncertainly, then more cheerfully, "Yea! Alright!" The boy smiled that trade mark grin of his, "I'll see you tommorow then!" He called as he skated off, "See ya later, sensei!" Iruka blinked, Tomorrow? Wait... Sensei? Tonight was just full of surprises.

The rest was, as they say, history. Naruto had shown up the next day, and every day after that, like clock-work. He cleaned up even nicer than even Iruka had suspected he would. His cerulean eyes were soulful, his blone mop positively tousleable, and his smile? The stuff directors dream of. Naruto's impromptu nickname for him, Sensei, had not only stuck but had also been transfered to his partner as well. Kakashi found the whole thing very amusing, Iruka was less than pleased. When Iruka had finaly managed to talk Naruto into attempting acting he had only just gotten ahold of three roles the boy would be perfect for. The first two had bombed. Naruto laughed it off, but Iruka was geuinely disapointed. The last was the one he had held the least hope for, the leading role in an upcoming blockbuster movie, he knew Naruto never stood a chance, but his personality was so perfect for the part that Iruka had decided to risk it anyways. Naruto had blown them away, and his debeau into the acting world was a sky-rocket to fame.

Years latter found Naruto rich, famous, and in a place of his own. His house was big, and it was suposed to be haunted. He bought it because he liked the land it was on, but the place seemed so empty. That had changed when a little girl had shown up on his doorstep with an abandoned kitten. Naruto had refused at first, but ten minutes later found him chaseing the child down the street with tears in his eyes as he thought of that poor little kitty alone in the world and was plagued by guilt for having turned it away. He nursed the kitten back to health, found it a good home, and felt wonderful about himself for about three days before he realized how much emptier the house seemed without the pitter pat of padded paws down the halls.

His first order of buisness was to build a giant fence and kennel in the back yard and buy out every animal in danger of euthenasia in the area. His favorites were a dog named Alice, a red and white akita mix, and a puppy named Domino with miss-matched eyes and fur that had both the color and texture of dark, soft, straw. Of all the strays he had taken in, they were the ones he had decided were there to stay. Others came and went, but Alice and Domino were his girls. It didn't matter what kind of animal it was, he'd take in anything so long as he had room. So when he looked out his window one morning to see a girl with ebon-blue hair in filthy, torn clothes, stumbling weakly down the road, he never thought twice about bringing her in. After all, he always had room for one more.

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	2. Chapter 2

Hinata was the eldest daughter of a family, a family that was the very deffinition of "rich and famous" Her father was an actor, one of a pair of twins that specialized in double roles. Her mother was a talented play-write with several scripts lined up for debut that summer. Her cousin was a rock star, lead singer of a tourtured group by the clice name of "Caged Birds" that also included several more of her family members. Even her little sister Hanabi was slowly climbing into stardom. It seemed that the combination of talent, looks, and confidence ran in the Hyuuga blood. And Hinata? Well, Hinata had nothing.

She was far too shy to act, either on camera or theatre, and lacked the skill in both. She couldn't handle an instrument, or even carry a tune. And her creative writing was tollerable at best. Hinata was the Hyuuga's disgrace.

She sat quietly at the dining room table, crunching the chocolote rice-crisp cereal that the Naruto, THE Naruto, had presented her with. She had had a crush on him for almost as long as she could remember, since she had seen him skating up and down the streets as a ragged child. What would it be like, she had always wondered, to have that kind of freedom? To not be held to anyone's expectations but your own? And slowly she had fallen in love with a rebelious youth that she barely knew.

Now here she was, in his house, eating his food, and he was waiting on her every need. It was shocking, embarasing, a dream come true. "Is there anything else I can get you?" He pulled a chair out from under the table across her and sat down, turning those big cerulean orbs on her. She blushed and shook her head. She hid her face behind a curtain of dark hair so he couldn't see the dark flush that refused to disipate any time the boy... man, she corected herself, he had turned twenty one recently. Though they were the same age, Hinata still felt like a silly girl. Here she was, leaching off a perfectly nice person because she wanted to run away...

"Hey. Did you hear me?" She jerked up to face him. "I I I'm S Sorry!" She stuttered. He had been talking and she had ignored him! She was so rude! A horrible person! "I'm re really sorry!" He shook his head and waved his hands, "No! It's ok! I was just asking if you were ok. You spaced out for a minute there."

"Oh..." She blushed and looked down, "I I'm ok..."

He got up when she set the spoon down. "I'll just take this if you're done!" He said cheerfuly collecting the bowl. "Aa! You d don't have to...!" She sputtered reaching for the bowl, but he wisked it out of her reach. "Nonsense!" He laughed, grinning, "You're my guest here, aren't you? I'm suposed to take care of you, right?" He reached down and ruffled her hair before going into the kitchen. Hinnata squeeked when his hand touched her head. She thought she would pass out from nervousness and extacy.

"Hey, come on." He said, pulling her out of her stupor at the table with a pat on the shoulder. "You should probably get a shower and some sleep. Right? I'll show you the bathroom." She nodded shyly and followed him upstairs. He opened the door on a huge room and pointed to the far side where a door stood open, light pouring out. "The bathroom's over there. I already got you a towel and something to change into... I hope you don't mind sweat pants and a t-shirt..." He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, "I don't have any girl's clothes...But yeah. This is your room for now, so..." He shrugged. "You can go to sleep or whatever in here." He smiled and gave a short wave of his hand as he left and pulled the door closed. Hinata stared around the room in awe and wonder, It was so big! She went into the bathroom... and it was the size of a small bedroom. There was a huge bathtub on the far end, next to an elegant shower stall, also much bigger than was ever neccesary, a huge, empty, walk-in closet, another closet dedicated strictly to towels and washcloths, and a gargantuan mirror over the long counter along one side. The toilet, not surprisingly, was fairly normal. Except that it had several clothes and a towel stacked on it.

The extravegance of the room and the bathroom shocked Hinata. She came from a rich family, but this kind of frivolity was frowned upon. Everything in the Hyuuga mantion was minimalistic... except for the garden. The garden was the envy of every plant enthusiest in the country. She let out a sad sigh. She would miss the garden... Assuming she did not return. She cut the water on in the shower and flicked her hand through the stream, testing it for warmth. The plan had been to find her place in the world before she could return. She hated being the dirty secret of the Hyuuga household. Even her little sister was doing better than she was... The temperature stabalized and she disrobed and got in. The water sluicing over her aching form felt like a blessing from on high. What had she been thinking? It had only been two weeks since she had left. She had been so stupid. She hung her head under the water, that way she couldn't tell if what was running down her face was tears or water.


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of the dogs sleeping next to him was soothing to Naruto, it always had been. Ocationaly one or both would get up and pad outside to go to the bathroom with the soft ticing of claws on hard-wood before returning shortly and laying back down with a soft 'whuff'. Naruto loved his girls and the sound always made him smile. He closed the book he had been reading and sighed. He let his head fall back against the pillows. What was he going to do about this girl? Honestly he didn't know. She wasn't like his other strays, she was a person. People weren't strays, not really. They had a place, a home to go to, didn't they? But what if she didn't? How do you find a home for a person? He couldn't keep her, not really. He didn't know how to take care of a person. And besides, wasn't it up to her if she even wanted to be kept? The house sure would bee a lot less lonely with another person in it. Not that he didn't love his dogs ofcourse, but it would be nice to have someone who could talk back to him once in a while.

Alice perked up and stood, ears forward. She taped quickly out of the room, heading downstairs towards the exit followed in close succesion by Domino. Naruto payed them little mind, she probably heard a mouse somewhere in the house and was going to chase it off, or the help had arrived early today. It was almost three after all, and the first person to arive was usually his cook and maid at around four. The woman was plump and had a kind face and was everything a cook should be to Naruto's mind. She treated him more like a son than an employer sometimes, and she would scold him so bad if she found out he was still up. He put the book aside and cut his light somewhat guiltily.

It was the barking that first allerted him that something was wrong. It wasn't the normal, happy barking that Alice and Domino launched into when they saw someone they knew, it was deep, angry, and Naruto jumped immediatly up. He tore down the stairs and was met by a strange scene. There was a man standing on his counter staring the dogs down, a large duffle held in one hand. The man glared at Naruto as he slid into veiw. "Call them off!" He snarled. Naruto was about to refuse, but something struck him as odd. The man looked familiar in fact... Naruto's eyes widened. he had the same eyes as the girl naruto had taken in! Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Why should I?"

"You dolt! I'm here for Hinata!"

Hinata? That must be the girl's name. He had never gotten it. He just had figgured she would tell him when she was ready, like his other strays. "What do you want with her?"

"I'm her cousin! Now would you _please_ call these animals off so we can talk?"

'Alice! Domino!" Naruto barked at the dogs, "Go to bed!" They gave Naruto an uncertain look but went upstairs. The man hopped off the counter. "Now," Naruto growled. "What do you want?"


End file.
